Conference Carolinas Announces 2012 Fall Scholar Athletes of the Year

Dec 10, 2012

High Point, N.C. – Conference Carolinas is proud to
announce the Fall Scholar Athletes of the Year as recently voted on
by the student-athlete affairs committee. This prestigious award is
presented annually to a student-athlete in each sport for
recognition of their outstanding academic and athletic
achievements.

Each school submits candidates that are the best of the best for
the conference from their sport while meeting certain
qualifications for nomination. The qualifications include being a
junior or senior student-athlete with a cumulative grade point
average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale in all work completed at
their member institution that have played in a conference sponsored
sport. The GPA is calculated based on the student-athletes
cumulative average through the previous semester and each
student-athlete must have attended their member institution for at
least one academic year. Additionally, in order to qualify for the
award the student-athlete must be a current member of the
All-Conference Carolinas First, Second, or Third Team that were
recently selected by head coaches from conference member
institutions that nominate and then vote upon award winners.

Women’s Cross Country

Mount Olive College’s Amber Thompson was named 2012
Conference Carolinas Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year
after winning the individual title at this year’s Conference
Carolinas Women’s Cross Country Championship. Thompson, who
became only the second women’s cross country runner in school
history to earn women’s runner of the year honors, helped
lead Mount Olive to a second-place team finish at the conference
championship, tying for the best team finish in school history. A
junior exercise science major from Radford, Va., Thompson earned a
2011-12 Division II Athletics Directors Association Academic
Achievement Award for compiling a cumulative grade point average
above 3.50.

Men’s Cross Country

King College’s Spencer Frantom helped the men’s
cross country team make its first-ever NCAA Division II National
Championship appearance with a strong second place finish at the
Southeast Regional Championship meet on November 3. On that day,
the Morristown, Tenn. native crossed the finish line in 31:50.6 on
the 10k course in Charlotte, N.C. He led all Tornado runners that
day and helped the team finish third overall, punching their ticket
to nationals. On November 17, Frantom eclipsed his regional time by
more than a full minute and just missed out on All-American honors.
The junior placed 43rd overall at the national meet,
hosted by Missouri Southern State University (Joplin, Mo.). He
again led all Tornado runners while King placed 27th
overall as a team in their first trip to the sports’ highest
level of collegiate competition.

Women’s Soccer

Lees-McRae College’s Mary Dorn led the Bobcats to their
second consecutive Conference Carolinas regular season title this
fall, earning the league’s first-ever Defensive Player of the
Year honors in addition to a spot on the NSCAA all-Southeast Region
First team. A native of Shallotte, N.C., Dorn enjoyed one of the
best seasons of her storied tenure with the Bobcats this fall,
directing the backline to four clean sheets in conference play
while recording two goals and two assists. The senior defender has
helped Lees-McRae record 27 shutouts in her career, including 12
clean sheets in 2010 to lead the Bobcats to the program's
first-ever Conference Carolinas Tournament title and the school's
first berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Men’s Soccer

Coker College’s James Sweeney is a senior mathematics
major from Huntington, Md. with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Sweeney was a
first team All-Conference selection and was named the conference
Defensive Player of the Year, leading Coker to a 12-4-1 record and
its second consecutive Conference Carolinas regular season
championship. He allowed just 13 goals, while posting seven
shutouts and 54 saves. He led the conference with a 0.81 goals
against average.

Women’s Volleyball

Belmont Abbey College’s Kay Schellenberg became the first
Crusader women's volleyball player in school history to earn
all-region recognition as she was named to the Honorable Mention
team for the Southeast Region by the American Volleyball Coaches
Association. Schellenberg, the 2012 Conference Carolinas Player of
the Year and the Tournament Most Valuable Player, is the first
player in school history to earn all-region acknowledgement and is
the second player in school history to be named Player of the Year
and the first since 2005.

The senior setter from Jacksonville, Florida leads the
conference in assists per set and total assists, as well as service
aces per set. She directs an offense that leads the conference in
hitting percentage, a total that has been ranked as high as third
nationally, as well as league highs in kills per set and points per
set. She surpassed the 3,000 assist mark in the Conference
Carolinas Tournament Quarterfinal win over King. Schellenberg led
the Abbey to a 26-5 record, the first Conference Carolinas
Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth in school
history.